French court convicts cardinal of failing to report child abuse

LYON, France — In a surprise ruling, France’s senior Catholic cleric, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, was convicted Thursday of failing to report a known pedophile priest to police, the latest high-ranking churchman to fall in the global reckoning over clergy sex abuse and cover-ups.

Magistrates in Lyon found that Barbarin had an obligation to report the Rev. Bernard Preynat to civil authorities and gave the cardinal a six-month suspended prison sentence. Barbarin offered to resign.

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, right, was found guilty Thursday of failing to report allegations of sexual abuse by a priest. Associated Press/Laurent Cipriani

Preynat, who is scheduled to be tried on sexual violence charges next year, has confessed to abusing Boy Scouts in the 1970s and 1980s. People who said they were among the victims accused Barbarin and other church officials of covering up the priest’s crimes for years.

Nine victims brought the case to trial. A group of Preynat’s victims hailed the unanticipated conviction as a victory for child protection and a strong signal that church leaders will be held accountable.

“We see that no one is above the law. We have been heard by the court,” said Francois Devaux, president of La Parole Liberee (Lift the Burden of Silence.)

The verdict came as a surprise since the statute of limitations had expired on some charges. At the end of the trial, prosecutors argued for an acquittal, saying there were no grounds to prove legal wrongdoing.

Five co-defendants – an archbishop, a bishop, a priest and two other officials – were acquitted.

Barbarin’s conviction worsens the crisis facing the Catholic Church’s embattled hierarchy. The sex abuse scandal recently led to Australian Cardinal George Pell’s abuse conviction and the defrocking of America’s ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexually molested minors and adult men, including during confession..

The scandal brushed Pope Francis last year after he defended a bishop accused of covering up abuse in Chile. Francis is facing new questions about his backing for a bishop now under investigation for sexual abuse in his native Argentina.

With the confidence of Catholic faithful in the church hierarchy shaken, Francis brought church leaders from around the world to a summit last month at which he vowed an “all-out battle” to end abuse but issued no new rules to stop cover-ups.

In the French court’s decision, read by The Associated Press, the magistrates wrote that Barbarin “had the obligation to report” accusations against Preynat between July 2014 and June 2015 because the priest’s accusers didn’t request ecclesiastic secrecy.

The victims’ allegation of a cover-up that allowed Preynat to be in contact with children until his 2015 retirement was thrown out of court in 2016 for insufficient evidence.

Alexandre Hezez, one of those who put it back on the docket through a direct approach French law allows as a recourse, met with Barbarin in November 2014 and kept informing him there were probably other Preynat victims, according to the court ruling.

Barbarin “didn’t take the initiative despite Hezez’s request and insistence,” the magistrates wrote.

The cardinal was not in court when the decision was handed down. His lawyer, Jean-Felix Luciani, said he will appeal.

“This is a decision that is not fair at the juridical level,” Luciani said. He added: “We hope that at the next step, justice will be done.”

Barbarin, 68, nevertheless said he would offer to resign when he meets with Pope Francis “in a few days.”

“I have decided to go and see the Holy Father to offer him my resignation,” he said in a brief statement, expressing his compassion for Preynat’s victims.

Barbarin was made a cardinal by St. John Paul II in 2003, a year after John Paul made him archbishop of Lyon.

Unlike most cardinals, he does not have a large presence outside his home country. He only serves as a member of a single Vatican office, the congregation for religious orders. Even cardinals who live much farther from Rome work on two or three congregations at a time.

The Vatican didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pope Francis previously said the French justice system should take its course, but praised Barbarin as “brave.”

Francis now has to weigh whether to accept, reject or delay Barbarin’s offer of resignation.

Last year, Francis reluctantly accepted the resignation of one of his key supporters, Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, after he was implicated in cover-ups from decades ago.

The cases were revealed by a Pennsylvania grand jury report. Francis kept Wuerl on as a temporary administrator pending the appointment of a replacement.

He also accepted the resignation last year of Australia Archbishop Philip Wilson after he was convicted of covering up abuse. The conviction was reversed on appeal, but Wilson already had been replaced. His future status is unclear.

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